


i got this feeling that you're going to stay

by DacerGirl369



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Plague Inc, M/M, Napping, Sleepy Cuddles, happy birthday jane i love you i hope u like this!!!!!!!!!, this is a plague inc au lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-17 14:32:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18100403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DacerGirl369/pseuds/DacerGirl369
Summary: The Plague is starting to spread exponentially, and Newt is the only biologist left with the power to cure it.It’s fair to say the pressure has not had a great effect on him.





	i got this feeling that you're going to stay

**Author's Note:**

> for jane (@lesbian-mac on the Blue Hellsite), who i love very dearly<3 happy birthday my dude!!!!
> 
> this is a plague inc au although tbh i don’t think u have to know anything about plague inc to read it............ basically the apocalypse is happening via disease rather than giant aliens lmao
> 
> title from two of hearts by stacey q

Newt sighs deeply, leaning back on his chair. His results are in, and the plague has mutated. Again. He rubs his eyes under his glasses. This is bad.

“Newton? Is everything all right?”

He lets out a laugh. “Oh yeah, fuckin’ peachy.”

Hermann hums, halting his equations to cast a glance over at Newt. “Are those the cure test results?”

“Nope,” Newt answers, leaning his forehead against his desk, “not that it matters, because these analysis results are tellin’ me my cure isn’t gonna work anyways. It’s done another genetic reshuffle, Hermann. Another one! How is this even possible?”

Newt hears Hermann huff indignantly. “Determining that is your job, Newton. You are the one who believes in this ridiculous cure-all you’re concocting.”

He tries not to let Hermann get to him, because he really has more important things to be doing than yelling at him about why he’s wrong. So instead, he just bangs his head against his desk again. “I’m gonna crack this beautiful bastard if it kills me. Which it just might.”

Hermann sighs across the room, and Newt blocks him out while he grabs his pad to record his centrifuge results. Every failure is one step closer to success, his dad had told him on their last video call, but that was a difficult mindset to have when people around the world were dropping like flies. If Newt couldn’t figure out this cure before the plague reached Greenland and killed him, everyone was screwed. He was kind of humanity's last hope, which would have been laughable if it wasn’t so fucking tragic. Hermann’s math says they have less than a year till extinction. It was getting hard to stay optimistic when he’d not slept in four days and he was no closer to a cure than he was last week.

He hears the tell tale sound of Hermann climbing off his ladder and the soft thump of his cane as he made his way over to Newt, while Newt dragged his hands down his face and reached for another drag of his Monster. He looks up just in time to catch the disgusted face Hermann makes.

“Newton, how long has it been since you’ve slept?”

“Ha!” Newt laughs humorlessly. “Not long enough, Herms. I’m seventy percent there, and Raleigh and Mako have been busting ass out there getting samples and helping people. I gotta do my part.”

Hermann softens. “You are doing your part, Newton. You need rest-“

“Oh yeah? I don’t see you taking any nap breaks. Got kind of a pot-kettle thing going, Hermanno.”

Hermann looks for a minute like he’s going to start yelling at Newt, which Newt wouldn’t even blame him for, they’ve been getting on each other’s last nerve lately and all the stress and lack of sleep are certainly not helping.

Instead, Hermann takes a deep breath and seems to talk himself out of an argument. Newt can’t decide if he’s relieved or agitated.

“You are right, Newton. I am going to take a rest now- I would strongly advise that you join me.”

Newt scoffs. “Yeah, thanks but no thanks. I still have stuff to do.”

Hermann looks disappointed, but quickly turns and disappears around the corner to their makeshift break area. Newt feels a pang of something in his heart, but he ignores it. He has a plague to cure.

 

* * *

 

 

When Newt wakes up he isn’t sure where he is.

He doesn’t remember falling asleep. The last thing he can think off when he casts his mind back is setting up slides for his next round of experiments, so he’s not entirely sure why he’s now laid down somewhere with a blanket over him. He’s not sure where his glasses have gone, but he’d know the blurry figure awkwardly milling about around him even if he couldn’t see at all.

“Hermann?” He asks, voice still groggy with sleep.

Newt can see Hermann stop abruptly even while he can barely make out his surroundings. Hermann reaches over and places Newts glasses on his face with more care and grace than Newt thought him capable of, before sitting down on the coffee table in front of him. Newt pulls himself into a sitting position and starts to get his bearings; he’s in the break room, on the nap couch. He has no recollection of getting there. Hermann is here, and Newt has a blanket over him, and Hermann looks to have been- taking care of him.

It’s odd.

“What- What is happening?”

Hermann turns red and Newt can see him steel himself, as if he’s convinced Newt is going to start yelling at him. Newt does feel a little like yelling at him, but more out of obligation than anger. He’s mostly just confused. Confused and tired.

“I came back into the lab to find you asleep at your desk with the centrifuge spinning wildly in the background, so I, being the only reasonable one in this bloody lab-“

“Thank you.”

Newt can still barely see for the sleep in his eyes, and he’s still insanely tired, so he blames his uncharacteristic response on his brain being frazzled by his erratic sleeping patterns. Hermann turns even redder at the words, though the tension seems to leave him and be replaced with something much softer, albeit much more confused.

Newt is surprised by himself when he hear his voice ask, “stay with me?”

Neither of them say anything else; Hermann looks like a deer caught in the headlights, and Newt has a feeling an eerily similar expression graces his own face. A moment of silence stretches out between them, and just as Newt is coming to his senses enough to think oh fuck, oh no, way to make it weird, Geiszler-

Hermann walks up and sits on the couch next to him. Newt shuffles over, mostly in shock, but Hermann seems to take it as an invite and awkwardly lays down next to him.

It’s very uncomfortable for a while, as they just lay side by side, both hyper aware of their proximity to each other. After a while, Hermann seems to relax, and Newt is tired enough that even painful awkwardness couldn’t keep him awake for that long. The awkwardness slowly sweeps away, and eventually, on the cusp of being fully unconscious, Newt feels Hermann slowly put an arm around his shoulders and pull him into his chest.

Newt can feel the stupid dopey smile on his face as he drifts off to sleep but he can’t quite will it to go away. He isn’t sure he wants to.


End file.
